Why that half empty bottle of fragrance inside your lavatory cupboard might be value hundreds

If you discover a long-forgotten bottle of perfume at the back of your bathroom cabinet, don’t throw it out – it could be worth hundreds or even thousands of pounds. 

Even half-empty or totally used bottles could sell for something. Old scents from the 1990s are suddenly fetching up to £500, while an early bottle of Chanel No 5 sold for £13,000 last month. 

A limited-edition Rene Lalique frosted oystershell bottle – bought in 1939 – sold at auction for an astonishing £171,000 in 2006, and a vintage Guerlain Flacon Vinaigrier Ottoman from 1912 sold for £50,700 in 2010.

One reason for this surge in value is that fans of discontinued scents by brands such as Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent are nostalgic for the smells of their youth, while youngsters are keen to try the aromas of a bygone era.

Nineties Scents are surging in price

Perfume fans often end up seeking the scents that remind them of their youth – but when lines are discontinued they have no choice but to buy second-hand. That drives up the price for old bottles – even ones not in perfect condition.

It’s not just the oldest scents surging in value. Nostalgia among those who grew up in the Nineties is driving up prices for perfumes that were popular then.

‘Perfumes get discontinued because of changes in fashion and taste. This adds an air of exclusivity to fragrances no longer available – scarcity makes them more valuable to own,’ says perfumer and vintage scent collector Sarah McCartney. 

She adds: ‘There is a new wave of interest from nostalgic fans wanting to buy the aromas they remember when growing up. It is creating a surge in demand for perfumes from the 1990s.’

Gucci Envy perfume for women was released in 1997 and a year later Envy for Men hit the market. The scent was discontinued in 1998 but there are still plenty of fans willing to pay £500 for a sealed bottle. 

Even if it has been used a few times it can sell for £200 – ten times the price it sold for when first released.

Other perfumes collectors are rediscovering include Calvin Klein’s CK One, which was launched in 1994 and has been issued in several special editions since. 

First editions can fetch about £100 while a ‘One Summer’ variation from 2013 is on the online auction site eBay for £440.

Short-lived fragrances are also being snapped up as the fact that there are limited numbers increases their value. 

McCartney says: ‘When Yves Saint Laurent brought a perfume called Champagne out in 1993, nobody thought to ask the French makers of the famous sparkling wine if it was OK with them.

‘It was housed in a bottle with wire to make it look like a cork ready to pop. Unfortunately, wine producers were not impressed and filed a lawsuit so it was pulled from shelves to create a rarity.’ This perfume can sell for £200.

Early examples of recycling

The shapes of perfume bottles make the glassware collectable even if it’s been opened and used.

David Fergus, a valuer and auctioneer for Richard Winterton Auctioneers in Staffordshire,

says even empty bottles can be worth thousands. ‘Women used to keep a variety of perfumes in their boudoirs – refilling the old bottles – a century ago, long before the modern idea for recycling,’ he says. 

‘Perfume producers were aware of this, so ensured the bottles had appealing designs so the lady of the house would like to always see them decorating the dressing table.

‘It means collectors are keen to own old perfume bottles. We regularly auction old perfume bottles that have been discovered by a family clearing out a property when going through a boudoir that once belonged to parents or grandparents.’

Chanel No 5 was launched by Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel in 1921 and its minimalist design is believed to have been inspired by a whisky decanter. Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers sold an empty 1921 bottle of it for £13,000 in January. It was a rare design because in 1924 the bottle was remodelled into a chunkier square shape.

Zachary Woodhouse, a specialist at Sworders, says: ‘Unfortunately, the glass used in these first bottles proved too thin for shipping to clients and many of these early examples broke, making a bottle like this even rarer.’

Another design is the 1937 mannequin-shaped Shocking bottle by Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli. The curves are modelled on the figure of Hollywood screen legend Mae West.

Although long discontinued, it was re-released using a similar design in 1997 by perfumer Martin Gras of Dragoco.

You can pay £1,000 for an early original bottle and £500 for the re-issued examples.

The value can be so high partly because the original bottles had flower decorations that are fragile and can break. You might still pay £200 for a slightly damaged bottle or if there is no longer any perfume sitting inside it.

At auction on February 17, Richard Winterton Auctioneers sold a selection of partially used early 20th century bottles, including a Complice de Francois Coty Paris, Meteor de Coty and Nuit de Noel, for a total £170 – more than double the estimate. An early 20th century Rene Lalique Dans La Nuit went for £90 at the same Staffordshire auction.

The glass artist Lalique worked with the perfume manufacturer Coty from 1907 to create now highly collectable iconic Art Nouveau-style perfume bottles.

A sealed bottle can sell for more than double the price of an empty example. If it still has the original box, expect it to add a further 20 per cent to the total value.

Nostalgic smells from a past era

The formulas of scents have changed over time to adapt to changes in regulations. For example, the use of oakmoss – a species of lichen that grows on oak trees – was commonly used but is now restricted. The same goes for musk, which traditionally came from the glands of a male deer.

‘Perfume retailers might tell you the formulas for scents have not changed – but that is not true. 

‘Exposure to sunlight and heat also makes perfumes go off and can change the smell,’ says McCartney, who mixes perfumes at her shop 4160 Tuesdays in London.

‘However, if you store the perfume at the back of the bathroom cabinet with the stopper firmly in, then the scent can linger for many decades. 

‘One of the perfumer’s tasks is to try to make scents smell as close as possible to the original – and compare vintage and discontinued perfumes to newer examples.

‘You should not just throw out old bottles because even if you are not interested in the smell yourself, others will be.’

Under Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations, traders are cannot sell opened perfume bottles on trading websites such as eBay due to contamination concerns. However, perfumes are able to bypass this rule if the bottles are being sold as artwork.

An unopened perfume can last decades, but once opened it might start to oxidise and lose its aroma over time. Citrus and floral scents break down faster than heavier ones, such as amber.